Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure those receiving adult social care are given adequate, detailed notice of the potential cost to the individual beforehand.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Care Act 2014, charging is based on a number of principles, including that people should not be charged more than it is reasonably practicable for them to pay and that charging approaches should be clear, transparent, and comprehensive so people know what they will be charged.
Where local authorities decide to charge for the provision of care and support, they must follow the Care Act 2014 and the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014, and they must act under the Care and Support Statutory guidance.
When assessing what an individual can afford to contribute to their care costs, local authorities will conduct a financial assessment, and they can take any income and/or assets into account, unless they are required to be disregarded under the regulations.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to streamline the process of safeguarding referrals from schools to local authorities.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we are strengthening the role of education and childcare in multi-agency safeguarding arrangements to better protect children from abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
All schools must also have regard to the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ statutory guidance when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Part one of this guidance sets out what all staff need to know and do if they have any concerns about a child, including the process for making referrals to local authority children’s social care and for statutory assessments.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure teachers are equipped to deal with student mental health challenges.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The government will provide access to NHS-funded mental health support teams (MHSTs) in every school by 2029, with around six in ten pupils expected to have access by April 2026. Data for 2024/25 is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision.
MHSTs supplement existing pastoral provision, and schools retain the freedom to determine support based on pupil need, making best use of their funding.
Alongside providing direct support to pupils, MHSTs can also work with the mental health lead in each school to introduce or develop a whole-school approach to mental health.
The department also encourages whole-school approaches to promoting children and young people's mental health and wellbeing, which includes schools equipping teachers with the skills and knowledge to recognise and respond appropriately to pupil’s mental health needs. The department’s guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-children-and-young-peoples-emotional-health-and-wellbeing.
To support education staff, the department provides a resource hub for mental health leads, and a targeted support guide and hub to help choose evidence-based targeted support for pupils.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to provide additional support to schools to help students with their mental health.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The government will provide access to NHS-funded mental health support teams (MHSTs) in every school by 2029, with around six in ten pupils expected to have access by April 2026. Data for 2024/25 is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision.
MHSTs supplement existing pastoral provision, and schools retain the freedom to determine support based on pupil need, making best use of their funding.
Alongside providing direct support to pupils, MHSTs can also work with the mental health lead in each school to introduce or develop a whole-school approach to mental health.
The department also encourages whole-school approaches to promoting children and young people's mental health and wellbeing, which includes schools equipping teachers with the skills and knowledge to recognise and respond appropriately to pupil’s mental health needs. The department’s guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-children-and-young-peoples-emotional-health-and-wellbeing.
To support education staff, the department provides a resource hub for mental health leads, and a targeted support guide and hub to help choose evidence-based targeted support for pupils.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of the Minimum Income Guarantee for those receiving local authority-arranged care and support.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) is reviewed annually and published in the Local Authority Circular, at the following link:
For 2026/27, the MIG for working‑age disabled adults was increased by 7% to directly address cost of living challenges faced by this cohort and to recognise that working-age disabled adults start from a lower MIG than adults over Pension Credit age.
For those over Pension Credit age, it was increased in line with consumer price index inflation at 3.8%, as well as in line with benefits increases. Local authorities have the ability to set higher rates for the MIG if they wish, as the regulations simply set the statutory minimum.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the current level of the Minimum Income Guarantee is fair for those receiving pensions.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) is reviewed annually and published in the Local Authority Circular, at the following link:
For 2026/27, the MIG for working‑age disabled adults was increased by 7% to directly address cost of living challenges faced by this cohort and to recognise that working-age disabled adults start from a lower MIG than adults over Pension Credit age.
For those over Pension Credit age, it was increased in line with consumer price index inflation at 3.8%, as well as in line with benefits increases. Local authorities have the ability to set higher rates for the MIG if they wish, as the regulations simply set the statutory minimum.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment has he made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the length of the waiting list for post-mortem examinations for children.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is aware of the workforce challenges within perinatal pathology, which can impact on waiting times. A national programme was established in late 2022 to address this, and significant work has been undertaken in relation to workforce funding, training, and incentives. Actions taken include:
- the 2024 launch of a fully funded international recruitment campaign;
- a £20,000 golden handshake for doctors entering paediatric and perinatal pathology training;
- additional funding being made available to support training posts in areas where there have been interested candidates but no training post for them at a specific provider/location;
- the appointment of a new National Training Programme Director role which has revised the examination structure and aspects of the national training course, and supported an increase in the number of training posts across several recruitment rounds; and
- the perinatal and paediatric training pathway, which will be at a full complement of 16 training posts from February 2026, and with applications for the next specialty training level three having exceeded expectations.
NHS England is also pursuing medium-long-term options to increase service capacity alongside workforce initiatives.
A system of national mutual aid was established in late 2022 to maintain timely access to National Health Service post-mortems in areas with workforce shortages. This has been supported by over £1 million of additional funding in 2025/26.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure adequate funding for post-mortem examinations for children.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is aware of the workforce challenges within perinatal pathology, which can impact on waiting times. A national programme was established in late 2022 to address this, and significant work has been undertaken in relation to workforce funding, training, and incentives. Actions taken include:
- the 2024 launch of a fully funded international recruitment campaign;
- a £20,000 golden handshake for doctors entering paediatric and perinatal pathology training;
- additional funding being made available to support training posts in areas where there have been interested candidates but no training post for them at a specific provider/location;
- the appointment of a new National Training Programme Director role which has revised the examination structure and aspects of the national training course, and supported an increase in the number of training posts across several recruitment rounds; and
- the perinatal and paediatric training pathway, which will be at a full complement of 16 training posts from February 2026, and with applications for the next specialty training level three having exceeded expectations.
NHS England is also pursuing medium-long-term options to increase service capacity alongside workforce initiatives.
A system of national mutual aid was established in late 2022 to maintain timely access to National Health Service post-mortems in areas with workforce shortages. This has been supported by over £1 million of additional funding in 2025/26.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure timely access to post-mortem examinations for children.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is aware of the workforce challenges within perinatal pathology, which can impact on waiting times. A national programme was established in late 2022 to address this, and significant work has been undertaken in relation to workforce funding, training, and incentives. Actions taken include:
- the 2024 launch of a fully funded international recruitment campaign;
- a £20,000 golden handshake for doctors entering paediatric and perinatal pathology training;
- additional funding being made available to support training posts in areas where there have been interested candidates but no training post for them at a specific provider/location;
- the appointment of a new National Training Programme Director role which has revised the examination structure and aspects of the national training course, and supported an increase in the number of training posts across several recruitment rounds; and
- the perinatal and paediatric training pathway, which will be at a full complement of 16 training posts from February 2026, and with applications for the next specialty training level three having exceeded expectations.
NHS England is also pursuing medium-long-term options to increase service capacity alongside workforce initiatives.
A system of national mutual aid was established in late 2022 to maintain timely access to National Health Service post-mortems in areas with workforce shortages. This has been supported by over £1 million of additional funding in 2025/26.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects the National Specialty Lead for Rare Cancers to be appointed and whether a job specification has already been created.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Cancer Plan, published on 4 February 2026, sets out several commitments and ambitions, to be delivered within the next 10 years. We will implement the Rare Cancers Act, which received Royal Assent on 5 March 2026, including by designating a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) National Specialty Lead for Rare Cancers by summer 2026. This person will be based in the NIHR Research Delivery Network and will support research delivery for rare cancers research. A job specification for the role is under development.
The role of the reformed National Cancer Board will be to support and monitor the delivery of the commitments and ambitions and provide regular updates to ministers. The board will be co-chaired by the Director General for Planned Care in the Department and an independent representative. In addition, several national leads will sit on the board, including a clinical lead for rare cancers. The national leads will oversee delivery of the plan and advise ministers directly and independently on what action should be taken to improve outcomes.
It is important to choose the most suitable appointment process for selecting an independent representative to co-chair the board and to the national lead roles. Officials from NHS England and the Department are carefully following the required public appointments procedures including creating job specifications.